Rating: 3/5 Stars (Three stars)
Star cast: Sunny Leone, Saahil Prem, Parvin Dabas, Karan Mehra, Sandhya Mirdul, Divya Dutta
Director: Bhushan Patel
What’s Good: A strong backstory, great VFX and an aesthetic blend of erotica and horror as promised by the makers.
What’s Bad: The usual Bollywood variants of noises and voices seem right out of a B-grade horror film.
Loo break: None.
Watch or Not?: Ragini MMS 2 is quite a pleasant surprise. It is not everyday that you begin your morning watching a Sunny Leone film, where she actually manages to bewilder you something close to a performance. Interestingly threaded with ample hair raising minutes, the film’s ability to seem unrelentingly real is what makes it an entertaining watch. Not worth an Oscar but worth spending your popcorn over this weekend for sure.
The video of Ragini and Uday’s escapades in the haunted house gets viral. Uday’s death and Ragini’s faltering mental state from the trauma of the incident makes for the fodder of an interesting story. A filmmaker decides to make a movie based on Ragini’s unfortunate incident. Signing in Sunny (Sunny Leone) for the role, they go back to the same house to shoot for it. What follows is way more massive than expected. It initially begins as minor faulty incidents but it all points to the presence of the supernatural spirit who was killed unceremoniously by her family on the pretext of being a witch. And she still isn’t at peace.
Sunny Leone in a still from movie ‘Ragini MMS 2′
Ragini MMS 2 Review: Script Analysis
The film kicks off exactly where it had let loose in the last edition. Viewing the prequel is a must to prep yourself up to understand the magnanimity of the film’s details. After Uday dies in the first edition of the film and Ragini is sent off to mental asylum for treatment, what becomes a sensation is the leaked MMS which interests a filmmaker to make a movie based on the same incidents with his actress Sunny who is looped in to play the role of Ragini in the film. For me, it was the lingering fear elements from the last edition that created the milieu of horror. The mere vision of the house where the hair rising incident had occurred was enough to get the tempo going for this film.
Though the writers haven’t been exactly original in their imagination, they atleast have luckily not been lazy enough to tear it off and stitch it up as it is. Nuanced efforts have been taken to make the horror erotica fit aptly within the story’s framework. Quite like the last edition the built up is well written for the first half which makes the second half even scarier as things begin to fall in place relevantly. Expect to be petrified way more than what you are anticipating because the story has its moments of utter shriek-out-mad spooky moments.
In a lot of ways, this time the film’s story is way more settled than the last edition. May be the scriptwriter worked hard on the evident loopholes of the last one and rectified it well enough to conjure up something more logically fearful. In the first half itself the incidents related to history is made clear which comes handy in the film’s second half where it plays a primary role in acting catalyst for genuinely well-done climax.
I was particularly impressed that unlike most horror films, Ragini MMS 2 isn’t all grim. The parody moments can be taken in good humor and Sunny Leone is terrific in the one scene where she fakes an orgasm in an attempt to poke fun at herself. I think it was a good decision to use the erotic feel as a respite for fun in this film which works in its favor. Writers Suhani Kanwar and Tanveer Bookwala have got every ingredient right that makes for a captivating horror film and as much as I hate watching such paranormal thrillers, quite likeRagini MMS, this one too walks off with being a disturbingly freaky treat of sorts!
Ragini MMS 2 Review: Star Performances
Sunny Leone isn’t an actress but it cannot be very difficult when you are almost playing yourself. Perhaps that is what gives her this sense of confidence which is quite a revelation going by her work in Bollywood.
Sandhya Mridul who is quite a delightful actress otherwise borders on being repetitive. She is undoubtedly great in many scenes but the same act all through the run time gets a tad bit on your nerves.
Parvin Dabbas is zestful and his energy is channelized rightly in the film which makes his character’s tone and hue correct.
Divya Dutta is winsome except barring the climax. Somehow the fault lies more with the director who guided her to turn predictable. Chanting quotes and mantras is more funny than frightening!
Karan Mehra was a delight and is flattering as the full-of-himself, television star. He made for the most hilarious scenes in the film and puts up a great show!
Ragini MMS 2 Review: Direction, Editing and Screenplay
Bhushan Patel quite manages to play well on his imperfections and make a decently disturbing film to his credit. It is quite an unconventional horror film for Bollywood, being a horrex of sorts. When the film starts off there are many misspelled scattered moments but with the second half the film manages to conjure up a bewitching tale that is fearsome for being based on real incidents. Patel wastes a lot of energy in making wooden doors creak and make voices screech and even worse play the too-desperate-to-scare-you music over and over again too many times.
Subtlety in Bollywood horror movies is never on the menu and was hence not expected but Patel’s resolve to deliver a taut and engaging affair lacing horror with the right dosage of sex doesn’t go in vain.. Dialogues like ‘Tum Porno se Rituporno kab ban gayi’ does offend but if allow the film to be outrageous it isn’t an entirely terrible watch.
Ragini MMS 2 Review: The Last Word
Ragini MMS 2 is far more lucid than Ragini MMS. Though the first half isn’t exactly remarkable, the build up to the second half, the well used titillating show and the tight eldritch climax is what makes the film a worthwhile film here. Do not expect anything beyond mindless entertainment because this film is just the horror variation of a commercial potboiler. Don’t attach logic, don’t expect intelligence, just get entertained. Since I have ingested my share of it, I am going with a 3/5.
Check Out Ragini MMS 2 Trailer
Ragini MMS 2 releases on 21st March, 2014.
Share with us your experience of watching Ragini MMS 2.
Movie
Ragini MMS 2
Reviewed by
Mohar Basu
on
and Rated
/5
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